nonself

plural nonselfs · plural nonselves

1. countableuncountablehuman sciencesAny entity other than oneself.

   In plants, the ability to recognize self from nonself plays an important role in fertilization, because self-fertilization will result in less diverse offspring than fertilization with pollen from another individual.

   2013 May-June, Katrina G. Claw, “Rapid Evolution in Eggs and Sperm”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3

2. uncountableimmunologyAll agents and substances that are not the body's own.

   In his classic monograph describing the clonal selection theory of the immune response, Burnet (1959) suggested that the immune system distinguishes between self (no antibody response) and nonself (antibody response).

   1961, George F. Vande Woude, George Klein, Advances in Cancer Research

3. countableuncountableBuddhismAnatta.

1. immunologyOf nonself origin.